ISIS Targeting Jordan, Rampaging in Western Iraq

Islamic State (ISIS) militants claim to have gained a foothold on the Iraq-Jordan border Tuesday after destroying at least six Jordanian border posts, the International Business Times reports.

If confirmed, the paper said, it would be the first time the jihadist group attempted to enter the Hashemite Kingdom from Iraq since June.

The news is certain to add to already existing anxiety in Jordan, where CNN reports there have been increased public displays of support for the jihadist group, which already controls large portions of Iraq and Syria.

The news from Jordan comes just days after a report in the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat that ISIS fighters had recaptured several villages recently lost in Anbar province in western Iraq.

The Iraqi government’s failure to "send sufficient weapons to the tribes fighting there who ran out of ammunition" led to the fall of several strategic cities in the province, according to Adhal al-Fahdawi, a member of Anbar’s provincial council.

Fahdawi said a "lack of coordination" between Baghdad and provincial officials had helped ISIS, enabling its cadres to infiltrate the area.

The jihadist group’s advances had cut off a critical supply route between the province and Baghdad, said Sheikh Naim al-Kaoud, an Anbar tribal leader.

Other tribal leaders called on Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to send "urgent" air support to break an ISIS siege in Ramadi, Anbar’s largest city, Asharq al-Awsat reports.

Related Stories:

• ISIS Slaughters Hundreds of Innocents in Recent Days
• Despite Airstrikes, ISIS Appears to Hold Its Ground in Iraq